Let the Tears Fall Down
by Annika the Merciful
Summary: Ryoji  Ranka  dies and Haruhi is left to deal with it. One shot. Fluff. KyoxHaru


Hey Everyone, I wrote this. Read and Review Please.

Note: Everything in Italics is the flashback.

Disclaimer: No, I do not in any way own Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi sighed and paused before buttoning up the last two buttons of her sky blue Ouran Academy blazer as she stared out the window watching the rain and the dark gray clouds slowly roll along. Her hands still poised to slip the button through its small hole she couldn't help but feel that the weather was for her today, lamenting the loss of a vibrant life from the world. Today had been one of the most surreal days she had experienced since her mother's passing. Haruhi, though sad, was slightly happy that her father had been reunited with her mother once again, even still the feeling of loss still lingered inside of her heart. Haruhi watched as the raindrops ran into one another, racing down the large glass windows while remembering what had happened that had so quickly changed her life.

_ The phone rang breaking the silence of the small apartment that it resided in, yelling to be picked up. Padding her way out of her room and into the small hallway Haruhi moved to answer the phone, light spilling and flooding the hallway with a soft warm glow. _

_ "Hello, Fujioka residence." Haruhi answered distractedly as she wondered who on earth would be calling at 3am after glancing at the small clock on the stove._

_ "Miss Fujioka, your father has been in a serious accident and is currently in emergency surgery." The doctor's breath was hesitant, he must have made this call to a patients loved one many times before, but the shock and surprise of the pain never seemed to stop affecting him. It was the part of his job he hated most, informing the family; no one ever wants to be the bearer of bad news. After a long pause the doctor drawing her attention away from her imagination, "Miss Fujioka, are you there?" shaking his head he knew she could be no older than 20 at the most._

_ "Yes, I'm sorry, I'll be right there." Hanging up the phone Haruhi continued to stand where she was just thinking about the news she had received. A gust of wind against the sliding glass door brought Haruhi from her thoughts as she dashed into the bedroom throwing on her shoes and grabbing a warm hoodie and her keys. Taking a look in the mirror she paused on whether or not she should put her contacts back in, shrugging and unlocking the door Haruhi saw it unnecessary and time consuming._

_Sprinting down the metal stairs Haruhi began headings towards Tokyo General Hospital. Being only 3 miles away had its advantages, being able to run there in 20 minutes was one of them, especially in an emergency. Trying to slow down from her sprint Haruhi looked up in just enough time to avoid running into a young doctor with a bunch of files stacked in his arms. Barely missing him and running into the reception desk Haruhi tried to regain normal breathing as the other patients, nurses, and doctors stared at her. "I'm here to see, Fujioka Ryoji. He's m-my f-fa-ther, I was to-ld he was in e-mer-gen-cy surgery f-or ge-tti-ng h-it by s-some-o-one." Haruhi panted while looking up at the receptionist. _

_ "Well dear, it looks like he's still in surgery if you would like you may wait here and we'll tell you as soon as he's out of surgery. Take a seat if you would like dear." The receptionist genuinely smiled at her but Haruhi was too pumped on adrenaline from the run to sit down and stay still. Instead she choose to walk around the waiting room before removing herself to one corner of the room staring out the window as the sky slowly dulled from the deep majestic blue of night to the radiant oranges and reds of the sunrise. But the beauty of the scene was lost on Haruhi, its not that she didn't see it was more of the fact that her eyes, unfocused we playing images of what it looked like the morning her mother passed away, it had looked just like this. Thinking about her mother, Haruhi remember that the anniversary of her death would be this Sunday, only a few more days and she realised that it would have been 12 years since her mom had passed away. Had time really gone by that quickly? Sighing, Haruhi looked around the waiting room at the other people waiting to be seen as the doctors and nurses bustled about before looking at the clock on the wall she realised that it was already almost 6am. If I were home right now, I'd be getting up and ready for school. Haruhi's thoughts betrayed her as a few tears started to run down her cheeks. _

_ "Miss Fujioka, I am Doctor Kimika, your father is out of surgery now, he is in the intensive care unit, things still look shaky, he may not survive the day, I'm terribly sorry." The young doctor looked down on the girl who gave a sad smile before asking to be escorted to see her father merely shaking his head, this girl was only 17, still in high school and now she was losing her father, as he continue to walk Dr. Kimika reminded himself that he should take a few days off of work to spend more time with his own children, he worked too much for their good._

_ Walking into the room Haruhi could do nothing but blink. Ranka had bandages covering almost his entire body and so many tubes and needles that Haruhi wasn't sure what to do. Walking slowly over to him Haruhi could no longer hold the tears back. Sitting besides the bed she held her father's hand hoping he would wake up and say everything is fine, but in her heart, there was a piece of her that knew he was not going to make it. Standing up and moving beside his ear Haruhi bent down, "Go and be at peace with Mom, it's where you belong." Haruhi moved to kiss his forehead lovingly before sitting beside him until he passed. _

_ A loud irritating noise dragged Haruhi away from her Father, looking down she saw that Hikaru and Kaoru were calling her. Stepping outside of the small room her father was in she picked up the call. "Hey guys." She spoke quietly as to not disturb the other patients._

_ "Haru-hi! Where are you?" The twins whined, Haruhi rolled her eyes, by now it was 7:30 and she should have been in the 3__rd__ music room preparing for club later today. _

_ "Hey guys, can you put me on speaker please?" Haruhi waited for the pause until they agreed and said she was. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I can't come to school today. My dad was hit by a car while walking home last night. He's still unconscious and the doctor said that the injuries don't look good, it's likely he won't live through the next couple of days, I just need to be here to be with him, okay?" Haruhi paused, if she had been in the room she would have seen that much to her surprise everyone was stunned into silence, none of them knowing how to respond to the news she had just given them._

_ "Of course Haruhi, I'll make sure to tell all of your teachers so that they are aware of your absence. Do you need anything while you're there, would you like us to come join you?" Kyouya, of course, was the first one to be able to compose himself enough to formulate a response._

_ "Thanks Kyouya-sempai but I don't want to be a burden to you. If you guys wanted to, just come after club, and then you don't have to close it. I'm sorry Kyouya-sempai for the profits we'll lose today to my not being there. I'll try and make it up in the next couple of days. Anyways, I'm going to go sit with him, I'll see you guys later." With that Haruhi shut the phone, turning to vibrate, before re-entering the room to sit with her father while he breathed his lasts._

_ The hosts sat confused listening to the dead tone after Haruhi ended the call, she had apologised for lost profits when her father was dying, and all of the members were confused. "She must be trying not to think about her dad. I just, I don't know what to say." Hikaru was the first to speak. Wrapping his arms around his brother Kaoru Hikaru entwines his limbs with his brothers, consoling each other as they began to feel the loss for Haruhi. Tamaki sat on the couch unmoving, not having said a word they all looked at him afraid that he'd be going of the deep end, instead he just picked up his phone. "Marie's? Yes. Please send 2 dozen flowers to the room of a Fujioka Ryoji at Tokyo General Hospital. One dozen purple tulips the other dozen irises please. Yes, could you do that as a rush order for me. Yes. Thank you." Tamaki turned around looking somber, all emotion removed from his face. He and Ranka may have never gotten along but the pain in Haruhi's voice was breaking his heart, he sat unsure of what to say or do._

_ The warning bell rang and dragged them all from their own thoughts as they began to head to their own classes. Moving slowly, each Host Club member put on a smile for the ladies as they passed them, making sure that they were happy. But what surprised them the most was when during lunch Haruhi walked in with her bento into the main dining hall, sitting with the other hosts. They all looked at her as if she were crazy, but if she was here, that must have meant that Ranka has passed away, but then should she be home, grieving? Each host did not know what to say. _

_ "Haruhi?" Kyouya, yet again, was the first to speak._

_ "He's passed away Kyouya-sempai; he passed away shortly after I called you guys. I sat at home not knowing what to do with myself so I came to school." That was all she could say as her mind was still reeling from the loss of her fathers. "Thank you for the flowers, they were a lovely gesture." Haruhi got up walking away having forgotten to push her chair in as well as leaving her lunch on the table unopened and untouched. _

_Walking away from them she didn't know what else to say, she didn't know what else to do, she had to act happy, she had to appear like everything was okay for the ladies and club today, she had to be happy. And with that, Haruhi forced a smile on her lips stopping and talking to the girls as they greeted her._

Thinking back to all that had happened today, she was surprised she had made it this long without crying, but somehow the rain felt better, like the rain was her friend and at that moment it was lamenting her father's death with her. The twins walked over to her wrapping their limbs around her allowing their bodies to comfort her. Hugging them back, Haruhi allowed them to stand there for awhile before the other hosts began to come over and hug her as well. Mori ruffled her hair as Huni gave her a tight hug. Tamaki looking like he wanted to hug her moved slowly in front of her. "I'm sorry Haruhi, I am here, if you need anything, we all are." Haruhi allowed Tamaki to wrap his arms around her shoulders, breathing in his scent and relaxing, but there was one host member still left that hadn't come over to her yet.

"It's odd to see you with glasses on Haruhi, but they look nice. I would like to offer to take care of Ranka's funeral for you. You won't have to pay me back at all." Everyone in club stared at him. Haruhi nodded in his direction, "Thank you, Kyouya-sempai, that will be most appreciated. If it's possible could you arrange to have the funeral for this Sunday?" Haruhi's voice wavered more than it usually did. "Of course, I'll make all the arrangements tonight." Haruhi nodded in response, as she walked away from everyone picking up all of her books and very mechanically putting all of her books away. Her books had been strew all around the music room and one-by-one the other hosts left, Kyouya stayed behind making sure that Haruhi would be alright. She didn't even realise that she was crying so hard until Kyouya came up behind her enveloping her in a hug from behind.

"I'm so sorry Haruhi." Kyouya's low voice and warm breath floated against her head as she tried to calm the flow of tears that came from her eyes, but to no avail.

A knock on the door made Haruhi look up. "Miss Fujioka, how are you doing? I am terribly sorry to hear of your loss." The chairman walked in holding his hand out to Haruhi.

"Thank you Chairman Souh-sama. I am sorry to inform you though, that I will have to be submitting a letter of resignation soon. As much as I love this Academy and my friends here, I will need to resign from the school in order to be able to keep going." Haruhi's voice was flat and dry, Kyouya sat next to her, writing in his notebook merely listening and observing silently.

"I am terribly sorry to hear that. You are one of our brightest students I don't see why resigning from the school is necessary. I will need a legitimate reason for your resignation." The chairman answered

"Well, as you now know that I am boy acting like a girl and working in the Host Club. On top of that, I am going to need to be able to be pay for rent as well as other bills and food. However as a scholarship student you don't allow me to have a job. So as seeing as such, if I am going to be providing for myself I will need to resign so I can afford a job." Haruhi didn't want to but the tears kept coming, trying to talk through them was proving harder than she thought but just as she began to think she couldn't deal with it anymore she felt a warm large hand entwine itself with hers, looking over at Kyouya, he offered a simple smile before looking at the Chairman.

"Chairman Souh, what if we came to an agreement of sorts that would solve this entire problem?" Kyouya pushed his glasses up.

"I am all ears." Retorted the Chairman dryly.

"Say, that we continue to allow Haruhi to stay in the Host club, with your knowledge of course but no one else's. We allow her a base pay and then for each customer that she entertains that day there is an added bonus. That will allow her an income enough to support the bills and rent of her apartment as well as allowing her to remain with Ouran, all of this staying between the three of us." Kyouya expressed the plan though trying not to sound too excited at the fact that Haruhi would be staying.

"If I didn't know better Kyouya I would have said that you planned this, but since I do know better I know that you are merely thinking and working efficiently. I'll have to mention this to your father the next time that I see him. I see no problems with this arrangement. I'll draw up a contract tonight and if you and Miss Fujioka could stop my office tomorrow after club hours we can go over the final details." The Chairman smiled pleasantly at Haruhi before standing. Standing and bowing with gratitude Haruhi thanked the Chairman generously before allowing him to make his departure.

"Thank you very much Kyouya-sempai. You are very kind to be doing all of this for me. I know this must take up a lot of your time though and you probably are only thinking about the profits you'll lose if I leave, so I'll stay, if it'll help you." Haruhi was facing away from him, her voice was broken and wavering, she couldn't talk anymore.

"To quite the contrary Haruhi, you are quite wrong on this one. I am helping you out because I don't want to see you in pain. I can see that your heart is breaking and I don't want you to shed tears. I am going to miss Ranka-san as well. But most of all Haruhi, I do not want you to stay because of profits and merits, I want you to stay because I am a selfish man and I don't want anyone else but myself and the other club members to be there for you while you grieve." Kyouya walked over to her slowly. She looked terrified as if his words were taking a long time to sink into her already saturated brain.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Haruhi said barely above a whisper.

"Yes Haruhi, I am saying that I like you, and that I don't want to let you go." Kyouya had a way of saying something romantic and making it sound like it was about business, but Haruhi could read through the lines of his voice and the look on his eyes, she had gotten to know him well enough for that. She had known him well enough that she knew what he was saying was true and genuine. Opening his arms to her, Haruhi nearly knocked down Kyouya as she flung herself into his arms before letting the tears fall down. Kissing the top of her head softly Kyouya whispered in her ear, "I'm always here for you, always." Haruhi just clutched his shirt tighter as her body shook with sobs, wrapping his arms around her tighter and just holding her; Kyouya found that he could forget about the rest of the world when she was in his arms.

After awhile Kyouya and Haruhi pulled back, "How about a ride home, hmm?"Kyouya grabbed her bag in one hand, holding onto Haruhi with the other. Haruhi nodded and leaned against Kyouya for support, she was drained. "Would like to stay at my house for dinner, or is there something you need to do?" Haruhi asked weakly.

She had no idea what she did to him, she never even began to think about the effect that she had on him with the way she was acting, and he couldn't possibly refuse her. He knew it was intentional, he knew that it was just simply her, Haruhi, and for the first time his heart was opening up and beginning to feel what he never thought he'd be able to. The grief was still there, Ranka and told Kyouya once, that if anything happened to him, he would want Kyouya to take care of Haruhi, Ranka had seen the potential and had hoped that someday Kyouya would see it too. Releasing that it had been a few minutes and that Haruhi would be expecting an answer, Kyouya simple responded, "That would be lovely."

He gave her a light chaste kiss on the lips before allowing her to slip into the limo before getting in himself. On the drive home, Kyouya snuggled Haruhi against his side letting her wrap her arms around his waist and lay her head on his chest. They rested like that until the car stopped. Kyouya glanced down to look at Haruhi, her dark eyelashes brushed against her face as they fluttered open and two large, sad brown eyes framed in black looked up at him, the pain unspoken.

"Come on, let's go make dinner." Haruhi moved out of Kyouya's grasp. Getting out on the opposite side of Haruhi after Kyouya gave instructions to Tachibana about driving home, and that he would call when he needed a ride. Bringing their things up the stairs Kyouya noticed that Haruhi stilled before trying to unlock the door to her apartment, her hand was shaking so bad that she kept on missing. Kyouya could only imagine the pain and loneliness that she was feeling at the moment. This was their home, their place of happiness, or warmth, of family, and now it was a mere shell, a remnant, a mere memory of the things that once had been. Wrapping his hand lightly around hers he helped her unlock the door. She sighed going in and taking her school stuff back to her room. Pulling off her shirt and pants, Haruhi switched to a pair of dark purple fleece pants and a white cami before coming back to the kitchen to prepare dinner. As she moved about the house Haruhi tried to forget about the emanating feelings of loneliness as the room that had once been her father's would never again be filled with his laughter, his voice, or his snores. Ranka may have been a bit of an eccentric father, but she still loved him with her whole heart.

Kyouya sat down at the table pulling out his laptop and began to work silently while Haruhi prepared dinner. Smelling the delicious aroma from the stove Kyouya stood up to stretch his legs and walk over to Haruhi. Peering over her shoulder he looked at what she was making. "I'm sorry it isn't much, it's all we really had left. I was supposed to go shopping today but that didn't happen." Haruhi felt like she was just letting him down, there was nothing fancy in the house that was even remotely up to his standards.

"Haruhi," he paused wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him for a hug. "Anything that you cook or make for me is more than wonderful; it should be the other way around." She shrugged and continued to finish up what she was making. "Could you grab the bowls and cups from the cupboard over to the right of the fridge please?" Haruhi was sorting the small meal into each of the bowls that Kyouya had brought over. Each grabbing a few of the bowls, they walked over to the table and began eating. Haruhi had barely eaten anything after having sat at the table for 20 minutes, brushing his fingers lightly over hers, Haruhi looked up at him, tears running down her face Kyouya moved over next to her, wrapping his arms lightly around her, Kyouya picked Haruhi up walking towards her bedroom and gently put her down on her bed before shutting the door.

Curled in a ball Kyouya's heart began to twist as he saw the small girl lying there crying and grieving at the loss of her father. "Come here Haruhi." Kyouya moved to sit on the bed. Lying on his back he allowed her to lie on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her frail frame and pulled a blanket over them. Kyouya sat like that, not sure for how long, but he finally took notice that instead of shaking with sobs, her breathing was even and smooth, eyes closed and lips parted slightly, he realised that she had fallen asleep. Trying to move away to leave, she grabbed his shirt, "Please don't leave me Kyouya, I don't want to be alone." Stopping, Kyouya's eyes grew in size, the amount of pain and vulnerability in that one sentence took everything out of him, he did not know what to say to this grieving girl. Moving back into place Kyouya laid on his side as he wrapped Haruhi around him, moulding her to his body as he brought the blanket back over them and firmly placing his arm around her waist to keep her there. Sighing he felt a few cool streams leak out of his eyes, feeling movement Haruhi turned around lying against his chest. Removing his glasses she could see where the few tears had fallen from his eyes. Using her thumb to gently wipe away the tears Haruhi snuggled into Kyouya, allowing herself to be enveloped in his scent as they grieved for the loss of Ranka together.

Before allowing himself to relax and drift off to sleep with the girl next to him Kyouya suddenly remembered a piece of information he had forgotten earlier, Sunday was the anniversary of her mother's death, truly they would be re-united in spirit, Kyouya sighed thinking how much the girl holding onto him was changing him but more importantly they were experiencing something that was bringing them together, though grief may be painful, when shared with someone else who understands it can be a blessing in disguise.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Please remember to review, I know that this is kind of sad, but I think it's cute too. Thanks!

Annika


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